Another Year, Another Invasion
by 1944a
Summary: The following follows the events of The Bureau: Xcom Declassified and contains spoilers. The outsider threat has (mostly) been dealt with, but now there is an old threat that has returned: The Communist countries. After a fateful operation in China, the USSR invades the United States. Xcom must perform its original function and beat the Reds before its too late.
1. Prologue

Another Year, Another Invasion

The following takes place after the events of The Bureau: Xcom Declassified and contains spoilers.

Prologue

1962-The invasion and its aftermath

On October 28, the Outsiders, led by the one known as Origin, sent an expeditionary force to pave the way for an invasion of Earth. Xcom had to be activated ahead of schedule to fend off the enemy force, led by Director Myron Faulke. Through Xcom's operations, they managed to cut off contact with the alien planet and defeat Origin. It was revealed that agent William Carter had an Ethereal entity, named Asaru, attached to him. When the Outsiders chose to assault the Xcom base, Asaru broke off with Carter and linked with Faulke. Carter, unwilling to deal with being controlled by Asaru, decided that he wanted Asaru dead, so Faulke tried to keep Carter on the _Avenger_'s brig while the rest of Xcom took down Origin.

In the end, the humans won. The Outsiders were forced to stand down and help rebuild before they would be eliminated or imprisoned. After the Outsiders were dealt with, Asaru left Faulke. It is unknown were Asaru went. Much of the technology was preserved and provided significant secret military and scientific advancements. Most evidence of the Outsider attacks were erased or covered up. The sleepwalker infection was treated (but, due to the death of Professor Alan Weir, the cure would not be fully administrated for a long time). The whole war was covered up as a "communist sneak attack" or the "Cuban missile crisis". Only the agents of Xcom and a select few politicians (in the United States) knew about the actual invasion.

Despite agent Angela Weaver's earlier comment of Carter "acting like a child" when he was resisting Asaru's control, she decided to convince Faulke to let go of Carter. When Carter was court martialed, the military judge let him go because there was not enough evidence to really punish Carter for his "treason", as Faulke put it. Carter was returned to Xcom and he did not try to hold any grudges against Faulke. For a long time, the agents of Xcom had to fill out plenty of false obituaries.

Even after the whole incident with the Outsiders, American President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev were continuing their bitter rivalry. Naturally, this did not show with their diplomatic discussions, but everyone in both countries knew that the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union did not trust each other.

On November 15, 1963, a Zudjari had somehow escaped custody and decided that he would somehow avenge his comrades. On November 22, he had managed to assassinate Kennedy. Cyrus Sinclair, a former Xcom agent (he was picked up from Truman's Secret Service detail) and currently a secret service agent, decided that he would deal with the assassin (which he had actually seen) himself (due to the confidentiality of the issue, he did not want to allow even his fellow secret service agents to see the evidence that there was an invasion) and afterward that the whole thing would be covered up to have a shifty looking communist by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald be the assassin (Which he actually did try to assassinate Kennedy, but it was the Judjari who had really killed him). Sinclair was able to do this because of his clearance level (which was almost as high as the president's) that came partly from his service in the Secret Service but also from his service in Xcom. The Vice-President, Lyndon Baines Johnson (who also had enough clearance to know about the invasion), took the reins as president.

Unfortunately, Johnson was quick to upset Khrushchev. He had intended to escalate the situation in Vietnam into an all-out ground war. Sadly, covert operations in Vietnam somehow led to China. On December 9, 1963, American soldiers were killed on the Chinese side of the Chinese-North Vietnam border. China declared war on the United States on December 13 at 1332 (Eastern Time), and the Soviet Union (partially reluctantly) backed up China. World War III had started. Every nation depleted their nuclear arsenals within a few hours.

On December 15, a joint invasion of the United States by Cuba, the USSR, China, and North Korea was organized and had begun. Xcom, with the original purpose of defending the United States from such an attack, was reactivated to fend off this invasion.


	2. Chapter 1: A Strange Love Tale

Chapter 1- A Strange Love Tale

December 13, 1963

Carter's House, Arlington, Virginia

1230 (ET)

One Hour Before The War

William Carter was in his living room smoking a cigarette and listening to Elvis Presley sing "Good Luck Charm" on the radio. He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but in one way or another, it did. Angela Weaver, a co-worker since the year before and now it appeared that she was also his lover, was currently in his bed sleeping with only a bra and panties. This was a curious case for Carter. Since his wife Julia and their son Richard died in that fire in 1959 (Which was in that now reconstructed house of his), he didn't think that he would be with another woman. He started drinking hard and blaming himself for not being there. He wasn't so sure about his relationship with Weaver. He didn't realize that it would go that far that fast.

But when did it all start? It obviously wasn't love at first sight, as Carter and Weaver's first meet was surrounded by a cloud of distrust. Was it when Weaver went AWOL to search for her brother, Pete, and Carter willfully denied Faulke to defend her stance? Perhaps it was when Weaver put Pete out of his misery. _No_. Carter thought to himself. _It must have happed that day two weeks after the invasion._

Two weeks after the invasion, Carter was not yet court-martialed for his defiance of Asaru and, in turn, Director Faulke. He was filling out paperwork like it was any other day in the new Xcom base in New Mexico. Then Weaver approached Carter.

"You know something? I'm sick of this paperwork," She told him.

"Well, the hard part's just arrived!" Carter replied. He then took another look at Weaver. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"I'm not the one being court-martialed," She responded.

"Ha, ha. That's quite humorous..."

"Well, you know me."

"You still didn't answer my question, Angela."

Weaver sighed and uttered, "Well, I could certainly be better off. It's a stressful job, you know..."

"With Pete and all?"

"Yes... with Pete and all..." Weaver was looking down and it was clear to Carter that she was trying not to cry.

Carter paused for a moment. "I'm sorry," he told her, "I... didn't mean to pry..."

Carter wasn't sure why he did what he did next. He felt the urge to put his arms around Weaver and essentially coddle her. Something about this triggered Weaver to cry. "It's okay," Carter mumbled multiple times. "It's all over. No more... things from outer space..." Carter then proceeded to kiss Weaver.

Since then, it seemed that they were dating. What a stress reliever for the both of them! But even then, Carter wondered: _Would Julia want me to get with another woman?_ What he did know was that he drank a little less since Weaver and him came together.

He continued to listen to the radio when an announcer interrupted Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea".

"We have an official government report that... China has declared war on the United States," the announcer reported in a somewhat sorrowful voice. "All citizens are advised to move to a nuclear fallout shelter as soon as possible!"

Carter sprung up after the announcer said "war". He grabbed his M1911 pistol on the table and ran upstairs into his bedroom. He pushed Weaver to try to wake her up. "Angie, wake up! Wake up, now!" he shouted in a manner of utter importance.

"Not now, Will..." she mumbled.

"No, you have to wake up now! War with the communists! Get up now before China nukes Washington!"

Weaver was tired and clearly did not want to wake up. Finally, Carter got her attention. She muttered, "What, Will?"

"I'll explain later, we need to go down to the basement now!" Carter replied, trying to conserve his words.

In 1957, fearing for the safety of his family, William Carter had converted his basement into a nuclear fallout shelter. Sadly, it did not help his family in that fateful fire.

Weaver grabbed her clothes and the two of them ran into the basement. Weaver then got dressed while Carter was ensuring that no fallout would directly affect them.

The civil defense siren was blaring and most people were in fallout shelters that day in Arlington.

Then... It happened.


	3. Chapter 2: Political Failures

Chapter 2: Political Failures

December 11, 1963

The Pentagon, Washington D.C.

1706 (ET)

Two Days after the incident

Cyrus Sinclair could not comprehend why Americans were dead in _China_. Not just any Americans, but _black ops _specialists. He then checked the mission roster. All of the names he saw he knew from Xcom. _Was Xcom involved with this scandal?_ He asked himself. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to ask President Lyndon B. Johnson himself.

"Sir, why are there dead American soldiers in _China_? _Xcom_ operatives. Why?" Sinclair questioned Johnson.

President Johnson answered with the following. After the United States brought communications back up from the Outsider invasion, CIA operatives in the Soviet Union and China who saw Outsider related research sent back reports. According to these reports, the USSR was trying to utilize what remained Mosaic to supplement their previous psychic and telekinetic research. China was reported to have possibly enslaved some of the Zudjari that remained in their country. Xcom then sent a team to eliminate what research the Chinese had. This was called Operation Pseudo-Dragon.

Unfortunately, it was a tactical failure. When Agent Stefan Worrel broke radio silence to call for Medevac for a wounded teammate, he had unintentionally doomed the rest of his team. He had barely been able to call for the medic for his colleague, Henry Jackson, and mention something about Outsiders when the Chinese got the best of him. The mission squad, led by John Dixon, was all presumed to have been either dead or captured.

"It's a damn shame," LBJ continued.

"I see," Sinclair replied. After that explanation, he had found that the mission was justified. However, Mao Zedong, despite earlier cases of espionage going essentially off the books, had decided to publicize this. Of course, he did not realize that the US government had received only the words "Outsiders" and some more explaining to do.

The two of them walked back into the Pentagon's main conference room. LBJ had called for a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Zedong had threatened war, and the United States had to be ready.

Everyone in the room had the credentials to know about Xcom and the Outsiders. In fact, the room was sound-proofed and even some of the Secret Service and Pentagon security agents were outside of the room in the dark. Among the "guests" were Director Myron Faulke (Director of the Bureau of Special Defense Operations, dubbed "Xcom" when the Outsiders came), Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Director John McCone (Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, or C.I.A.), and the Joint Chiefs of Staff themselves.

President Johnson introduced those unfamiliar with the situation with a summary of what he told Sinclair. "Any more questions?" he concluded. No one answered.

Faulke began with an important comment, "We may not have received a lot of good intelligence from Operation Pseudo-Dragon, but we do know one thing: China is dangerous."

McCone commented and unintentionally changed the subject. "After the operation, China found and killed one of our double agents. We lost contact with another one of our spies in China. The Soviet Union has also been cracking down on spies. We've lost contact with two agents in Russia."

McNamara then mentioned, "The USSR had had a relevant request for a month now. They want us to transfer their agent, Piotr Zhedrev, for our agent, Gerald Kenway."

"No! Zhedrev knows too much!" Faulke replied. "He has been with Xcom for far too long! He knows too much! In fact, he was in Xcom _before_ the Outsiders came!"

"Agent Kenway has been with a Soviet psychic research and development department since 1955," McCone commented.

"Mr. President?" McNamara asked Johnson, "The request has been on hold for far too long. We need to decide now! What do you think?"

President Johnson for a moment. He then surprised some of the Joint Chiefs, saying, "Get Kenway back as soon as possible, even if that means giving them Zhedrev. Then I need to organize a diplomatic meeting with the Chinese. War should be avoided as much as possible. That being said, let's return to talking about defense."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff bickered and debated for about an hour until they agreed upon a resolution. The entire military (including the reserve) would be deployed. Fortifications were to be erected in Alaska and Florida. More units were to be sent to Japan, South Korea, and West Germany. Despite some of the diplomatic tension between the Soviet Union and China, they worried that the USSR would still back up China when push came to shove.

On December 13, two days later, their suspicions were correct. China declared war and the Soviet Union did support them. All of the important government personnel went into secure bunkers and all of the United State's nuclear arsenal went to metropolitan areas in China and the Soviet Union within half an hour.

Warsaw Pact T-64 tanks were cruising the plains of the Federal Republic of Germany at approximately 40 miles an hour while North Korean infantry marched South of the Inchon once again. Chinese Paratroopers dropped west of Aomori, Japan while Soviet submarine patrols attacked an American fleet harassing Cuban vessels. It was official; World War III had started.


	4. Chapter 3: Fallout

Chapter 3: Fallout

December 13, 1963

Carter's House, Arlington, Virginia

1400 (ET)

Carter had told Weaver everything that he heard from the radio while they were in that cramped basement fallout shelter. Carter didn't know that the Soviet Union supported China, neither did he even hear about the incident that caused China to declare war. He did not have time to listen to the media. Thus, he didn't know much about the situation. Weaver didn't pay much attention to the media either.

Multiple teams of Government men in biohazard suits carrying Geiger meters were surveying the damage in Arlington. The destruction was massive and almost total. Radiation and parts of buildings were everywhere. The individual houses were barely distinguishable so these teams required city maps to navigate.

One team had found their way to Carter's house. The leader of the team knocked on the basement steel door and yelled "Is there a William James Carter in there?"

"That would be I, sir," Carter replied.

"Do you have any biohazard suits in there?" the leader asked.

Carter stopped for a second to think to himself. _Damn it, I knew that I forgot something when I set this up!_ "Uh, no. No sir," he answered.

"Well, uh, okay, stick tight for a minute... maybe longer... We need to, uh.."

"What do you need me for?"

"Is this the right William James Carter, right? If it is, then the Federal Government is summoning you. I am not at liberty to say why. I honestly don't know. Clearly this..."

"Yea, yea, I got it. It's me."

"Angela Weaver is also here," Weaver commented.

An hour passed by when Carter had decided when he had enough. He suggested to Weaver, "Why don't we just get the hell out of here? Faulke would want us to get there ASAP, wouldn't he?"

Weaver replied, "Will, you know why that's a bad idea. The nuclear fallout! You know that! We just... wait..."

"For how long?"

"Listen... I, too, am bored and kind of cramped. I really do want to get out of here. But... it's dangerous outside. You know that."

"It will certainly take a long time... so, uh... Angie..."

"Something you need to say?"

"How 'bout we..."

"Are you... propositioning me?"

"Just an idea..."

"Well... what if they open the door and catch us?"

"Nonsense. This room is locked and secured from inside."

"Still... I'm not... so sure..."

"Just an... idea... Well, fine... let's, uh, turn on the radio!"

There was nothing but static on the radio. An electromagnetic pulse from the nuclear blast had disabled the local radio stations and even communications. Carter turned off the radio after he felt the awkwardness of the situation between Weaver and him.

He continued, "Well, uh... we... could read... I mean, there are plenty of old magazines and things down here..."

Weaver looked at Carter with a blank face and responded, "You didn't really prepare anything to occupy yourself while... Well, uh, you know what? I change my mind! There's nothing else to do, now, is there?"

Another hour passed and the biohazard team returned with extra biohazard suits and a mobile decontamination station. The team leader was about to knock on the door when he thought that he heard the noises of Weaver and Carter "enjoying their stay" inside_. Hm..._ He began thinking to himself, stroking the chin part of his biohazard mask. _I might let this play out. Or, nah. I'll just turn... _He turned the handle of the door. _Locked_.

Carter thought that he heard the handle of the door squeak so he stopped. "Angie," he whispered. "You might have been right about that..."

The two of them got dressed quickly. They were both humiliated. Carter called out, "What's going on now?"

The biohazard man replied, "We've got extra suits so come with us. You won't be significantly hurt by the radiation. You'll be fine."

Carter and Weaver received the suits and got dressed. They were then taken down to a bunker beneath the Pentagon (or what was left of the topside building) where they were decontaminated and briefed on the current situation.


	5. Chapter 4: A National Crisis

Chapter 4: A National Crisis

December 13, 1963

Secret Underground Bunker System, Washington, D.C.

1621 (ET)

President Johnson was to make an important speech today. He needed to keep everyone up to date. This did not mean revealing the details of Operation Pseudo-Dragon to those without clearance. What was important was that the United States had to win this war. What wasn't important was what caused it.

"You ready sir?" Cyrus Sinclair asked.

"Yeah," LBJ responded. He walked up to the podium and looked to his sides. Behind him were Sinclair and another Secret Service agent. To his left were the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and to his right were the directors of America's intelligence agencies, including Faulke.

"My fellow Americans," he started. "As you know, we are now at war with the commies. We are confident that the enemy will not relent. We must organize an effective offensive on the Soviets…"

"Uh, Sir," Chief of Staff Maxwell Taylor interrupted, "I'm not sure if our military forces are currently up to offensive ops."

"In any case," LBJ continued, "I expect our military and clandestine services to be operable and in action within an hour. NATO has to win this. Otherwise, there will be no more backyard barbeques or the rights guaranteed by our founding fathers. Coordinate a strategy and do something. Thank you and that is all I have prepared to say. Dismissed!"

The audience applauded and each agency held their own briefings. Sinclair approached Johnson and commented, "That was an excellent speech, Sir."

"Yea, well you're not paid to kiss my ass," Johnson replied. The two of them walked into another room, as the president had called for another meeting. This time, they would discuss how to end the war in a swift victory.

"I need something to work with here, goddamnit!" Johnson started off with.

"We are not entirely sure of the status of the Navy, Sir," Chief of Navy Staff David McDonald responded. "We have tried to send word to the fleet currently stationed in Baltimore to deploy and in engage in operations in Europe."

"Communications have been cut, Sir," Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara commented. "Our current ability to wage war has been effectively crippled."

"If I may add, Sir," Sinclair added, "I was talking to an engineer an hour ago and it sounds like they are currently working on comms as we speak."

"Any good news?" LBJ responded to these mostly negative reports. US military command argued for an hour about what to do about the situation.

Among the audience of LBJ's speech were Angela Weaver and William Carter. After the speech, the Xcom agents reported in for a briefing of their own.

"Let me explain- to those who don't know- why this war started," Director Faulke started. He talked about the reasons for Operation Pseudo-Dragon and briefly about the operation itself. "This means that the enemy still has outsider technology. This could most certainly be a problem. However, the civilian populace will never know about it. We're going to erase the truth again. Welcome back to Xcom. Survive. Adapt. Win."

"Geez, and they said that an alien invasion would bring everyone together!" Carter whispered to Weaver.

There was applause for a few seconds, and then Faulke motioned the applause to stop. "That's enough," He professed. "Time is of the essence. We have plenty of work to do, and it won't be easy. Our orders are to get Xcom operations back up again. We are to fly to the headquarters in New Mexico."

The engineers finally got communications equipment working after three hours of hard work. The next priority was to get air transit ready for agents and commanders to get to their positions. Getting communications back up was a big step for recovering from the first wave.

President Lyndon B. Johnson felt like retaining control of the situation. "Admiral! Contact the fleets that have not been deployed. McCone! Contact any agents in the field if possible. McNamara! We need to organize a strategy with the rest of NATO. I'm putting you and Rusk in charge of that," He barked. "Faulke. When air transit is back up, you're staying here. I need updates on that… important issue of ours. Get to it!"

Everyone worked tirelessly to get the United States back into fighting condition.

Two days later, the Washington Dulles airport was ready for military use. The terminal was filled with agents and military advisors awaiting their next assignments. Among them were Xcom agents who were waiting to be sent to the Xcom headquarters. A 747 by the current designation 'X-1536' would take them to an airport near Santa Fe. There would be no special Skyranger pickups for them.

"We've been waiting here for an hour. What is holding up the airport?" one agent moaned.

"Quit complaining," Weaver retorted. "You know, I haven't seen anyone so eager to go on another mission."

"Just like old times, right?" Carter chuckled.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Weaver emitted.

The terminal intercom announced, "Flight X-1536 has arrived. Repeat; Flight X-1536 has arrived."

"'Bout time," another agent muttered.

The Xcom agents boarded the plane and were registered in. Then the plane captain announced on the PA, "This is your captain speaking. Before we leave, Myron Faulke told me to advise you to not discuss confidential details on anything. He also told me to reiterate an old slogan, 'lose lips sink ships'. Anyway, we're about to take off. Please buckle in your seatbelts and no smoking while on the plane. Thank you!"

The priority flight took an hour to get to Santa Fe and even the landing was delayed because the Santa Fe Municipal Airport control tower had not entirely recovered from the nuclear strikes. When the airplane- unassisted- finally landed, some M35 were to pick up the Xcom agents and take them to the Xcom base.

"Wouldn't it be easier if they had just sent some Skyrangers?" One agent questioned.

After a half an hour, the M35s arrived to the exterior of the base. The agents headed down the Skyranger bay and into their designated posts. Xcom was up and running once again.


	6. Chapter 5: Containment

**Author's Note: The following chapter contains a strategical/political analysis of what is to come. It may be uninteresting for some readers as it is uneventful. I will add a summary at the end of this chapter so that nothing of importance is missing from an uninterested reader's knowledge.**

Chapter 5- Containment

December 15, 1963

Secret Underground Bunker System, Washington D.C.

1817 (ET)

"Status update!" President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered.

"The communists struck fast and forcefully within minutes after war was declared. The nukes quickly followed after that," Chief of Staff Maxwell Taylor replied. "As far as things have been reported, we have taken a few naval losses. We seem to have sunk a Chinese transport fleet headed to Alaska. If I may be so bold, I believe now more than ever that the enemy intends to get us and Canada through Alaska, as we have discussed before. It may look somewhat bad for now, but we have a good chance to bounce back. In Korea, the North Koreans made their way to Seoul, but our men got their bearings and have taken Pyongyang. It's gone from rapid losses to well, sort of a stalemate-at least in Germany. However, I fear that we may lose Japan to China. The JSF has taken many casualties from China's initial waves."

"Ok. How about the situations in the Middle East, Africa, and South America?" LBJ asked. World War III contained fighting on all six inhabited continents. All of this affected NATO's efforts to keep the Soviet Union and its allies from taking over the world.

The first topic of discussion was naturally the volatile Middle East. Since Israel's independence in 1948, the Arab countries in the region, especially Palestine and Syria, were set on eliminating the Jewish state. Things only got worse during the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956 when France and the United Kingdom lost control of the Suez Canal to Egypt. After threatened by the Soviet Union, NATO was forced to step down and most of the Arab states allied with the USSR.

Secretary of Defense McNamara was the first to respond. "Israel was swiftly attacked by Egypt and Syria. Fortunately however, Israel has turned around and now there's a bit of a stalemate near the Suez Canal and Israel's northern borders."

"Sir, if may intrude for a second," Army Chief of Staff Eric Wheeler imposed. "I don't think that the communists really intend to strike us through Alaska. To me, there have only been a couple of diversionary skirmishes off Alaska's coast. I fear that there will be another Pas-de-Calais scenario here. Soviet paratroopers have already landed in Scotland. What if… we are wrong?"

McNamara responded, "Why, we have the National Guard hold them off while the Army Reserve moves from Alaska to the mainland. Of course, their numbers may fewer because we have required reinforcements in Europe. Continuing on the original question, South America has been doing well in our favor. President Goulart of Brazil has given us some men for the inevitable fighting in Cuba. As for Africa, there have been some mixed results. I think that we are losing control of North Africa."

McNamara and I have yet to speak to NATO," Rusk noted.

"Well," LBJ retorted. "Get on it! What are you waiting for? A hug? Time is of the essence!"

A distressed looking man came running down the halls when he intruded on the meeting. _Huff, huff_. He stopped to catch his breath.

"What is the meaning of this?" LBJ questioned.

The man responded, "The California; _huff, huff_; National Guard has re- _huff, huff_- reported-"

"Spit it out already!" LBJ impatiently yelled.

"We're being invaded!" the man replied.

"Alaska's under full-scale attack?" Navy Chief of Staff McDonald asked.

"No," the man answered. "The Pacific states. The communists have already taken San Francisco and Los Angeles. Multiple governors have already sent their states' National Guard units over to California, Washington and Oregon. There are also rumors of Cuban soldiers in Florida, but nothing has been confirmed."

"This is exactly why we need to coordinate a strategy with the rest of NATO," LBJ declared.

December 18, 1963

Palace of Westminster, London

0931 (ET)

It was finally time for the meeting that Secretary of State Dean Rusk had called for. The convention was to take place in what was left of Britain's Parliament chambers. The entire metropolitan block was cut off from civilians in order to prevent any assassinations of the important officials attending. All of the delegates were escorted by heavily armed guards.

After a greeting that was cut short due to the importance of saving time, the delegates bickered for hours on the subject of Europe alone. In fact, some of the delegates spoke as if NATO was only at war with the Warsaw Pact. Rusk urged the delegates to broaden their minds to include Africa and Asia. Hours went by when the NATO delegates finally agreed on a (worldwide) strategy. The French agreed to send units to help the United States eliminate China- through means of Indochina. The subject of Soviet paratroopers in Britain was discussed, and reinforcements would be sent to relive pressure on Britain's part. Not many units would be sent to help the United States, but the US would still have some support to relieve the communist invasion mostly through an invasion of Cuba and North Korea- which would allow an edge to advance into China and in turn Siberia, would help relieve a lot of pressure on everyone's part.

**Author's Summary: Both the US and the UK have been invaded by the communists. NATO discusses its battle plan. **


	7. Chapter 6: Reclamation

**Author's Note: It may seem to some readers that the previous chapters of this fiction may have been longwinded. There should be more action in this chapter.**

Chapter 6- Reclamation

December 13, 1963

Sichuan Province, China

1441 (ET)

The Skyranger flew low along the mountain line of the Himalayas in order to avoid detection from the Chinese air defenses. William Carter clutched his Outsider-tech laser pulse rifle and looked at his team. Because of the nature of the assignment, Outsider tech was authorized. Carter looked to his left and saw Agent Tom Fergusson, an engineer holding his plasma assault cannon. In front of him was Angela Weaver armed with a plasma sniper rifle. The objectives of the mission were somewhat vague: find whoever (assuming someone did) survived from Operation Pseudo-Dragon and- like the Operation Pseudo-Dragon- try to eliminate any Outsider technology captured by the enemy.

The Skyranger landed and Leon Barnes turned to the team. "Remember, I'll pick you up in the extraction point in Laos. It may be far, but those were the parameters that Faulke set for the original Operation Pseudo-Dragon. Good luck!" he told Carter and his team. With that, Carter's team got off and the Skyranger left.

"Why do we have to walk so far?" Fergusson moaned.

"If we're lucky… ah, never mind. Just deal with it," Carter retorted.

"But wouldn't that hamper our usefulness? We can only be in so many places at once, and Laos is sooooo far away…" Fergusson wailed.

"Will you shut up already? Your complaints are giving me a headache!" Weaver replied.

"Orders are orders, and we might not understand them but we are paid to follow them," Carter maintained. "Besides, who's to say that we don't find an important Chinese official who we can assassinate on our way back?"

"Yea, well I don't know any important officials who aren't guarded by a ton of body guards," Fergusson mumbled in a defeated tone.

The agents trudged west through the snowy terrain of the Himalayas until they encountered what appeared to be a facility. There seemed to be only one Chinese guard armed with an AK-47 by the gate.

Carter looked at the guard. _Shit_. He thought_. If only we brought silencers_. Carter motioned Weaver to move out at a distance to scout around. He then motioned Fergusson to back him up if anything went wrong. Carter snuck up carefully to the gate. He then snuck up behind the guard and put his arms around the guard's mouth, subduing him. The body was pulled out of the way and covered with snow to avoid detection.

Carter moved up when he heard the loud beam from a laser pulse rifle barely scathe his face. He took cover and ordered Fergusson to follow suit. "We've got hostiles," he yelled, hoping that Weaver might catch that.

As it turned out, the hostile that fired at Carter was an enslaved Zudjari. "Is that an… Outsider?" Fergusson questioned.

Two other Zudjari troopers armed with laser weapons and three Chinese soldiers came out and took cover. One of the men uttered something in Mandarin, alerting the others to the presence of Carter and Fergusson. Fergusson fired at one of the Chinese guards, burning him. Carter was pinned down by laser SMG fire emitted from one of the enslaved Zudjari. He couldn't move while another Zudjari moved to outflank him. He aimed to take a good shot at Carter when his head burst from a shot taken from Weaver's plasma rifle.

"Fergusson! I need a sentry there now!" Carter ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Fergusson acknowledged. He placed a laser sentry onto the ground beside him."Sentry up!" he exclaimed as the sentry opened fire at the Zudjari that had Carter pinned. A laser beam from the sentry smashed the Zudjari's eye and he fell dead.

Carter moved around freely attempting to see if he could try to outflank the enemy. He moved around and fired at one of the Chinese men. He shifted in cover only to be outflanked by Fergusson's plasma assault cannon. His screams as he burned alerted the last man who freaked out and called for reinforcements. He sat in a corner and put his hands around his neck.

As Carter and Fergusson moved in on the lone survivor, more men and enslaved Zudjaris ran out of the compound and formed a crescent shape formation behind cover on Carter's flank. Carter perceived this from behind him and sought cover. Fergusson's sentry pinned down some of the men, but one Zudjari managed to take it down. As Carter and Fergusson fired on the enemy line, the lone guard picked up his rifle and acquired cover on their flank. He shot Fergusson in the torso with his Avtomat Kalasnikova, attracting the attention of Weaver who was firing at the hostiles who had just outflanked Cater and Fergusson. She aimed at the guard who was still firing at Fergusson, and shot at the man's ear- killing him instantly.

"Commander, I'm badly hurt!" Fergusson moaned. He looked at the bullet wounds in his torso and his arm. "Yea, really bad. I need a medic!" he continued. One of the guards threw a sticky grenade between Carter and him. "Grenade!" he yelled, but he wasn't able to move. Carter rolled out of the way in time for the grenade to explode. Unfortunately, the grenade had claimed Fergusson.

Carter could not outflank the enemy, so he motioned Weaver to do that for him. One of the Zudjari had, however, caught on to Weaver's presence. He opened fire at Weaver's general position in an attempt to pin her down while an ally moved up on her and the other worked to pin down Carter, preventing him from attempting to spoil the plan by outflanking the contenders (such was the strategy that he spouted in Mandarin). However, Carter managed to throw a fragmentation grenade between the commanding Zudjari and the Chinese soldier pinning him down. They hardly had time to dodge the cooked grenade when it exploded on them. This allowed Carter to outflank and eliminate the remaining Zudjari attempting to kill Weaver.

After that skirmish occurred, Carter had motioned Weaver to meet up at the gate. He told her the bad news about Fergusson, and they said their good byes, but Carter vowed that he would not leave his body in a country not even remotely close to his homeland.

"Are you sure that you want to carry his body all the way to Laos?" Weaver protested. "I understand what you mean, but we have a job to do and… his corpse will only slow us down… let alone the smell…"

"I understand how this may seem bad under the circumstances, but it is the respectful thing to do," Carter asserted. "Anyway, we should probably look inside of the compound. You know, I did not expect to be fighting Outsiders outside of the invasion."

"Does Faulke even know about our relationship?" Weaver asked.

"I don't think so," Carter answered. "Why don't we just keep our thoughts on the mission for now?"

The two of them slowly walked down the compound. Due to the close quarters, Weaver pulled out her M1911 sidearm while Carter took point. They slinked their way down the compound's long concrete corridors, attempting to leave no nook go unchecked. They picked up some Outsider tech and destroyed others. It seemed to them that they had killed all of the guards until they had encountered the prison room.

There was one guard yelling something in Mandarin at the prisoners. There was one human prisoner and three Zudjaris yet to be successfully indoctrinated. Carter just came out of cover and shot the guard with his M1911 pistol.

The human prisoner shouted at Carter, "Hey, over here!"

Carter took a good look at the man. He then responded, "You're John Dixon! What are you doing here? Were you in Operation Pseudo-Dragon?"

"Yes," Dixon replied. "Now I don't mean to be pushy, but I'd be much obliged if you got me out of here."

"What should we do with the Outsiders?" Weaver asked.

"I'm not sure," Carter replied. "Dixon, did any of the rest of your team survive?"

"Sadly not. I was lucky to even survive. When they captured me, they tortured me into talking. I might have said one thing though, but I don't think it matters…" Dixon answered.

"One thing?" Carter questioned. "What did you tell them?"

"That the United States might have wanted to ensure that China never kept Outsider technology. Nothing important or unexpected," he retorted.

Carter couldn't believe what he heard. "Nothing important?" he scolded. "I hope you realize that World War Three is happening as we speak!"

"Because of what I said? Shit," Dixon croaked.

"Anyway," Weaver interrupted. "The Outsiders. What do we do with them?"

"Well, one of them can speak English. The other two either don't understand it or just keep ignoring me…" Dixon commented.

"Let's take them with," stated Carter. "You can take a gun, Dixon. Come on, it's starting to feel musty down here."

"Amen, I've been here for days. Thanks for getting me out," Dixon added.

The three and the Zudjari got out of the compound and, taking the corpse of Tom Fergusson, headed south for Laos along the rough terrain of the Himalayas.


End file.
